It’s been just over a week since I officially finished my first year of university, which means that I’m no longer stressed over looming deadlines or incomplete assignments and I finally have time to relax. I’ve spent the past week relaxing and spending time with my friends before we all move back home for the summer at the end of the month. Although I am happy that first year of uni is over and I can go home for a while to see my family, I’m sad that it’s gone so quickly and I’ll definitely miss living with my best friends over the summer and the independence that comes with it.

Before I began university I had many expectations of university life and living in halls. These are some of the things I’ve learnt from my first year of university:

1. Budgeting is hard

Moving away from home for the first time and having a lot of money in your pocket isn’t always a good thing. You will spend a lot of money during freshers on unnecessary things just because you can, especially if you live in London. I’ve gotten a lot better at budgeting as the year’s gone on although it took some getting used to and can be very hard sometimes.

2. You might not be friends with your flatmates

Although I didn’t have this problem, I’ve come to learn that I was very lucky. After talking to many people I’ve met at university, the majority have said that they don’t really see or talk to their flatmates. They’re not really friends with them, they’re simply people they live with. Most people will find friends at freshers events, from talking to other people in halls and on their course, so don’t worry if you don’t instantly bond with your flatmates because you will still make friends.

3. You will question your course

£9,000 is a lot of money and there will definitely be times when you ask yourself if it’s really worth it. There will be parts of your course that you won’t like, but that’s the same for anything. I found that although there were some parts of my course that I didn’t particularly like, there were parts that I didn’t expect myself to enjoy but ended up being some of my favourite parts of the course.

4. You will feel down Even if you don’t really get homesick, there will be times where you miss your family and want to go home. Some experience this more than others but it will happen to everyone at some point.

5. It’ll be one of the best times of your life You’re becoming more independent now that you’re moving away from home, making new friends and experiencing new things in a new town or city. For me, this year has been one of the best years of my life and I’m so glad I chose to come to university instead of going straight into work, not only because of the university experience but because it’ll give me a better chance at getting a good job at the end of it.